Very nice first chapter, provided the second isn’t being typed as we speak I think a good place to improve is with the characters, giving some more characteristic descriptions to refer to them by besides what height they are would do wonder.
5 Likes
–
Chapter Two
Festering Sores
–
“My point is, most apartments here are about the size of a wide hallway.” Ren explained as he ascended yet another flight of stairs, trying to act like his legs weren’t killing him. It was important to convey just how athletic and healthy he was, and how much he definitely didn’t rely on his mask to be acrobatic. “So comparatively, this is actually fairly sizeable, is all I’m saying.”
“That doesn’t help when you only have two side rooms and one of those is the toilet.” Tone grumbled, taking up the rear of the procession and acting like he was about to die from the exertion. “At least we have a shower, but there’s so many people living here that you can’t expect to get hot water for more than ten minutes every three or four hours.”
“You need hot water?” Ren smirked back playfully, knowing full well that he too wasted all the hot water he could manage to waste. Tone only groaned in reply, stopping to rub his calves before racing to catch back up.
“Alright Corey, if you would be so kind.” Ren motioned, the small mechanical device flying out of Tone’s pocket and busying itself in the rather complex lock for the door.
“All I’m saying is,” Tone resumed, pausing to pant in agony at the horrific experience of climbing stairs. “I’d like it if we didn’t all have to sleep in the same room when you get your own personal bedroom all to yourself, that so conveniently muffles the sound of Race’s obnoxious snoring.”
“I do NOT snore!” Race snapped, having been cradled in Rook’s arm after giving up climbing a few flights down. “That’s a rotten lie and you can’t prove it!”
“You can’t disprove it; you’re asleep when it happens, short stuff.” Tone tried to voice a grin but lurched forward once more as his muscles ached. Race crossed her arms and continued mumbling under her breath at the horrid accusation.
“I hate it when mom and dad fight.” Rook lamented, earning him a rough elbow from Race in the ribs, which did not move him at all. “Is Corey okay? He’s awfully quiet in there.”
“It’s soundproofed, remember?” Ren lazily rolled his head towards Rook with raised eyebrows.
As if on queue, the door suddenly sank an inch, and then rolled back into the wall with all the slow and methodical energy of a tank. Inside, sitting cross-legged on a rolling chair, was more hoodie than human, the tips of his fingers poking out from the excessive sleeves. Nestled atop the mountain of violet cloth was a ruddy face held aloft by an incredibly thin neck, a mop of almost golden hair hiding the dark brows underneath. He positively beamed at the appearance of his superior, and thrust his almost carpeted arms skywards in overdone salutation.
“Welcome back! I can’t believe that worked as well as it did.” Corey’s hands flopped back down to the front of the chair as he kept beaming, with only injured smiles and cold nods given in return. “I anticipated your timely arrival, and have prepared the appropriate measures for resuscitation.”
Almost smugly, he tapped a key on his keyboard, causing part of the perfectly white paneling which lined every surface in the room to flip down, revealing three plastic spheres with heavy condensation on the inside to the degree that it was impossible to tell what was hidden beneath the capsule’s inedible surface.
“Great. Gotta catch 'em all…” Tone mumbled, swiping one and cracking it open to receive a faceful of steam and a good look at some of the cheapest quality ramen noodles he had ever seen before. And he hadn’t seen many, because- well, never mind.
“And by 'em, I mean cancers apparently. Which one is this now? Ramen Royal? Or did you grow this from your scalp, like last week’s?” Tone glared, picking up a noodle with his fingers and sliding it directly into his mouth… from the top of his mask, inevitably letting it worm its way down into his open maw.
“I d- No. Look, if you hate it so much we could try soup again.”
“Absolutely not.” Tone sighed out a growl. “That’s the last time I’m having cream of broccoli and cheese and blood and pain. Not fun.”
“We could do a cold soup,” Offered Rook, settling himself down on the floor, back against the wall, his massive shoulders and ridiculous height offering little else. “Maybe that wouldn’t hurt as bad.”
“Sometimes half the things you say I can’t tell if they’re trying to be even meaner than me, or if you’re just that unaware.” Tone replied, sticking an additional five noodles down the inside of his mask at once. “Remind me never to invite you to any social gatherings.”
Seeing as Rook appeared genuinely hurt by this, Ren rolled his eyes and unslouched his posture, where he had been devouring the ramen at a ferocious pace with a plastic spoon. “Hey, I need you three to check on that party coming up in a week or two, see if that would be a good place to spring the next raid. It’d gonna be a rough one no matter what, but I need to make sure it’s worth it.”
Rook gale a cheery salute, implying that everything was smoothed over by the change in topic, at least for now. Tone gave a silent snort in reply before turning towards Corey. “Say kid, where’s your ramen? Thought you’d want to share in the poison same as the rest of us.”
“I was starving while you were out, and made mine in advance.” Corey looked crestfallen at the confession. “I needed brain food for all this work I’ve been doing.”
“Hey, look, if I’m not here, you don’t have to just eat this gunk.” Tone dug his gloved fingers around in the plastic bowl. “You should convince ol’ bossman to spend some of his rich living money to get you some snacks to survive off of.”
“Maybe…” Corey looked even more crestfallen, but still managed to turn in pleading fashion towards Ren, hoping his miserable plight of being hungry sometimes would inspire him to invest in a personal snack stash.
Ren rolled his eyes yet again and waved the pair off, heading towards one of the interior doors.
“So there’s a chance.” Corey whispered, his eyes glowing with delight.
“Yes, but don’t you worry. I’ll convince him it’s for the best.” Tone chuckled deviously, lightly punching Corey’s shoulder in affirmation.
“Sir! The kid and Tone are conspiring again!”
“SNITCH!!” Tone snarled at Rook with a grin, who recoiled in horror. Corey chortled at the artificial drama, but Ren had already left the room, standing in the restroom door for a moment before slowly closing it behind him. Race was silently standing, facing the wall, one foot on the shower tile, holding something in her hands.
“Hey.” Ren murmured, kicking slightly at a crooked tile in the floor. Race only murmured in response. “I know this isn’t the best time, but we need to talk.”
Race turned, her face flat, her hands holding a series of metal pipes, which curved and twisted all over the place, proceeding from and entering back under her shirt. “Yeah?”
“That-” Ren cleared his throat slightly. “That was stupid of you today. You knew the risks you were taking.”
“I appreciate your concern.” Race blandly replied, sniffing for a moment. “But I know what I’m doing and I don’t really need your ‘big brother’ protectiveness. And don’t bring him back up, either - everybody lost something that day. But you don’t offer the same kind of consolation to Tone, or the kid, or anybody else. So save the sympathies for someone who asks for it, okay?”
“It’s not about sympathy.” Ren sighed, straightening from the leaning position he had taken against the wall. “Going that fast nearly killed you before, Race. I can’t have you putting yourself in situations so blatantly dangerous again. I’m not willing to lose you the way-”
“Mm.” Ren pressed his curled fist against his mouth until his teeth hurt from the pressure. “I’ll stop. Before I do anything else stupid. But please be careful, Race.”
“Ren?” Race replied, cutting him off just as he turned to leave. As he looked back, she folded up the metal piping, which effortlessly twisted about in her hands, and compacted it back into the metallic hollow in her stomach.
“You do good.”
Ren didn’t smile in reply. He tried to, but nothing got out.
“NO, you idiot! That’s direcwuy into the guard’s wuestoom!” Tone sounded as Ren and Race returned to the main room, just in time for the inspiring visual of Tone holding a straw down his mask with a funnel in one hand and a beverage can in the other, trying to pour it down in non-chaotic fashion.
“Tone, be nice,” Ren scolded with mock weariness, marching across the room and leaning over the back of Corey’s chair. “What do we got, boys?”
“Front access,” Corey demonstrated with the cursor as he spoke. “Then spike the drinks, Tone releases a noise from outside which sets off the fire alarm, if enough of the drinks are spiked we’ll have absolute pandemonium inside. Rook then suggested we try taking the service elevator after that point, but yeah, that’s the guard station there, and they’d surely have someone behind for security. Can we guarantee taking him out before alarms are raised?”
“I thought it was a good idea…” Rook murmured, to which Tone laughed and guzzled more of his foul beverage.
“Fellas, you’re looking at it all wrong.” Ren smirked. “It’s an excellent plan-”
“Fhank you.” Tone replied with as smug a tone as possible.
“…Anyway, I think trying to get in at the base and find our way all seventeen stories up without detection is going to be a little difficult. Assuming I can confirm the level of tech access these things have, Corey, do you think you can fly a helicopter?”
“Whaaa?!” Corey’s eyes lit up with wonder and his mouth climbed into a massive smile, but fell back into disappointment and sadness a second later. “Oh. From in here.”
Tone began having a stifled laughing fit, causing him to choke on some of his drink, which prompted Race to slap him repeatedly on the back unhelpfully as he tried to ask her to stop. “If we can get in through the roof, and maybe had Tone enter through the front, perhaps we’d be able to secure our exit much easier that way. Security cameras on all sides don’t cover close to the building’s exterior until about halfway down, so we wouldn’t need to take them out of commission until we’re on our way out.”
“Excellent plan,” Commented Tone, in between coughing what sounded like five or six lungs out. “Race if you don’t stop I’m gonna have to sue you for malpractice.”
“And with that, I have to head to bed.” Ren slowly raised himself off of the back of Corey’s chair. “Don’t stay up too long now; we all have our places to be tomorrow and a long rest is necessary for all of us to recover.”
“Right.” Tone spat, finally extracting the straw from his face. “You all, anyhow.”
“I wish I could sleep.” Rook replied, even as Ren carefully lifted the silvery, spiked mask from off its faceless host, which slumped immediately afterwards. “Instead I just get to talk to the wall all night.”
“I’ll work on something to keep you busy at nights.” Ren gently smiled, gingerly placing the mask down on an ornate pillow. “The rest of you, have a good sleep. Lots of big events coming up soon; gotta stay at the top of our game.”
“Mm.” Race murmured, deftly unrolling her sleeping bag and clambering inside. “Rook, if you catch anyone snoring, it’s undoubtedly Tone. Got it?”
Rook awkwardly looked between her and the snickering Tone, who flattened the beverage can in between his palms like a marshmallow and missed a throw towards the trash can. “Uh, yeah. Sure. Whatever, I guess.”
“Works.” She mumbled, collapsing downwards and staring endlessly into the opposite wall.
Ren shook his head with a smile and exited into his narrow bedroom, more akin to the mental image he had of the local apartments. Standing still until the light from outside his door disappeared, and the chatter died into muffled whispers, he calmly turned off his light and lowered his bunk from the wall.
There, inset into the wall, was another ornate pillow, one with a different mask atop it. It was very tall, two narrow, darkened slits at the top serving as the eyes, leaving practically no room for scalp. The rest of the way down was massive, ivory teeth, which curved out just before both jaws met, somehow carved into a smile. It was devious and monstrous, and yet exhibited a commanding air, as if it would be improper to speak before this mask got the chance.
For a moment Ren was silent. Then, kneeling on his cot, he closed his eyes, keeping his back as straight as he could. A terrible coldness entered the room, which he fought back the urge to shiver at. It had not been so easy before.
“𝐻𝑒𝓎, 𝒽𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓈𝓁𝒾𝒸𝑒.”
Ren sighed, opening his eyes to the unfortunate sight he knew was waiting for him. A black trail spilled down to the floor, at once like both roots and leaves, elevating this wicked mask off the ground, as it looked about the room in an almost lost fashion.
“𝒜𝒽, 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉’𝓈 𝓌𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓅𝓊𝓉 𝒾𝓉.” The apparition drifted overtop him, the ethereal substance splitting to cling to the walls of the tiny room, using its teeth to grasp an ornate Japanese pipe in its massive teeth. The slim face turned back towards Renner with an even more devious nature than before, the jaw somehow moving despite being made of inanimate materials. “𝐿𝑒𝓉’𝓈 𝒽𝑒𝒶𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓈𝓌𝑒𝑒𝓉, 𝒿𝓊𝒾𝒸𝓎 𝒹𝑒𝓉𝒶𝒾𝓁𝓈.”
“I told you what to expect.” Ren coldly replied, turning just enough to eye the creature with a healthy dose of disgust. “The statue is in the storage unit, sixth one I’ve had to open to avoid suspicion. Rook doesn’t lie having to move everything around like that all the time.”
“𝒫𝑜𝑜𝒽 𝓅𝑜𝑜𝒽.” The mask sarcastically spat. “𝐻𝑜𝓌 𝓂𝓎 𝒽𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓉 𝒷𝓁𝑒𝑒𝒹𝓈 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓅𝑜𝑜𝓇 𝒦𝒶𝒽𝓃, 𝓉𝓇𝓎𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝒷𝑒𝓈𝓉 𝓉𝑜 𝒾𝓂𝒾𝓉𝒶𝓉𝑒 𝓂𝑒. 𝑀𝓎 𝒶𝓅𝑜𝓁𝑜𝑔𝒾𝑒𝓈 𝒾𝒻 𝓂𝓎 𝓈𝓎𝓂𝓅𝒶𝓉𝒽𝒾𝑒𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝒶𝓈 𝒹𝑒𝓁𝒾𝒸𝒶𝓉𝑒 𝑜𝓇 𝑔𝑒𝓃𝓊𝒾𝓃𝑒 𝒶𝓈 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓌𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝒹𝑒𝓂𝒶𝓃𝒹, 𝒷𝑜𝓎.” Its ivory incisors clicked against the mouthpiece of the pipe. “𝐼 𝓌𝒶𝓃𝓉 𝓂𝓎 𝑒𝓎𝑒𝓈, 𝑅𝑒𝓃. 𝐼 𝓂𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝓂𝓎 𝑒𝓎𝑒𝓈. 𝐸𝓋𝑒𝓇𝓎𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒾𝓈 𝓈𝑒𝒸𝑜𝓃𝒹𝒶𝓇𝓎 𝓉𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉, 𝑒𝓈𝓅𝑒𝒸𝒾𝒶𝓁𝓁𝓎 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒹𝑒𝓁𝒾𝒸𝒶𝓉𝑒 𝑒𝑔𝑜𝓈 𝑜𝒻 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝒶𝓈𝓈𝑜𝒸𝒾𝒶𝓉𝑒𝓈.”
“You’ll respect them - All of them, creature.” Ren replied with a sudden dangerous tone as he turned his head back towards the ornate pillow. “Or you’ll never get your eyes back at all.”
“𝒜𝓃𝒹 𝒷𝓎 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓈𝒶𝓂𝑒 𝓈𝓉𝓇𝑜𝓀𝑒, 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝓃𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝑔𝑒𝓉 𝒴𝒪𝒰𝑅 𝑒𝓃𝒹 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒷𝒶𝓇𝑔𝒶𝒾𝓃.” The spirit flicked a theoretical tongue inches from Renner’s face, its voice producing a cruel hissing sound as it spoke. “𝐵𝓊𝓉 𝐼 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝒷𝑒 𝑔𝓇𝒶𝒸𝒾𝑜𝓊𝓈 𝓉𝑜 𝓂𝓎 𝒽𝑜𝓈𝓉 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓅𝑒𝒸𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓇𝒶𝒷𝒷𝓁𝑒 𝒽𝑒 𝓀𝑒𝑒𝓅𝓈 𝒶𝓇𝑜𝓊𝓃𝒹 𝒽𝒾𝓂. 𝐼 𝒶𝓂 𝒶 𝓂𝒶𝓃 𝑜𝒻 𝓂𝓎 𝓌𝑜𝓇𝒹, 𝒾𝒻 𝓁𝒾𝓉𝓉𝓁𝑒 𝑒𝓁𝓈𝑒.”
“You’ll be able to bring him back when you’re at full power, just like you promised?” Ren tried to keep up his own personal mask of indifference, but he could feel his own enthusiasm causing it to slip.
“𝒪𝒽, 𝒸𝒽𝒾𝓁𝒹.” The mask settled back in its alcove, nibbling on the end of the illustrious pipe with whimsy seeping out of his blackened sockets. “𝐻𝑒’𝓁𝓁 𝒷𝑒 𝓈𝑜 𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓅𝓎 𝓉𝑜 𝓈𝑒𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊.”
–
9 Likes
Finally, the backstory for these losers is out of the way, and we can begin the shenaniganizing 
Too late 
Wonder has now been do 
4 Likes
Let the smoky smoker smoke his vapor device… wonder what this guy is anyhow.
4 Likes
wrong hear 
crazy that I read this sitting cross-legged on my rolling chair
also what is rook
and why does race have some sort of fnaf contraption in her stomach
nota we need your help none of us are literate
4 Likes
you’re definitely seeing things, um, I definitely didn’t edit it… read it again.
Was that the tripe of '87?! 
3 Likes
I thought it was Rukah but that works too
5 Likes
Me and the boys waiting for Nota to get to theorizing
5 Likes
Now fellas, is that any way to approach this? By making Nota do all the work while you sit back and relax?
There’s no reason why you can’t just as easily theorize about the contents and end up equally as wrong as he is, so get theorizing ya goobers 
5 Likes
ok fine
who's the hf fan now
my current theory is that ghid mask wants this statue to gain a physical form that isn’t a smoke cloud; it could be its old body or maybe just a new one
I honestly don’t know what’s going on with race (I will try to come up with an explanation later), but I think Rook may be some sort of puppet who gains life or at least mobility when his mask is applied
speaking of the masks, I’m wondering how they were made/what they really do. they seem to give members of the team increased mobility and other powers. we know that Rook needs his to move, Tone can make those sonic pulses with his (or maybe he can do that anyway?), Race’s allows her to go fast (or at least that’s what I can gather from this)
knowing that the ghid mask houses some sort of spirit, the other probably do to which is what gives the team their abilities but I wonder whose spirits are in them
there is a chance that ghid mask and the other masks are completely separate entities too
okokok so this implies that rook has ribs which only makes sense if he is organic and likely human but then why would he have no face and also not be able to move without the mask hmmmmmm
ok so the masks do let all of the members go fast, but also let Tone do his sonic boom thing. if the dead team member died by going too fast, I think that means that they all have the ability.
also, does the team know why they’re going on the missions? ren seems to be in charge of the group but he’s getting orders from funny ghid mask, which means that the group is left in the dark on why they’re doing what they’re doing. are they getting paid? how did they meet?
even though there’s a lot I don’t understand I really like this so far. keep up the good work ghid 
6 Likes
Now we’re talking
Yeah I'm a hero (nota) factory (hffan) fan
Same
Unfortunately the next chapter won’t provide many extra details in regards to the sources of their masks and powers…
…but the next next might
the TTV users who double posted over the years 
Now there’s the brainrot we like to see falling to pieces over trying to figure out why Ghid wrote something is what we’ve been waiting for that’s what it’s all about woooo
and it’s also what I’ll be doing in two months when I regret everything 
now that’s interesting. I wonder where I said that? 
you better be real happy I’m confining laptop smash gif to the Bo_ series 
4 Likes
get writing
hero factory hotline please state the nature of your crisis
hahaha yeah so funny hahaha I am never going to recover from this
ok so my logic is that race went fast here
and then later on ren was mad at her for this because its apparently dangerous (maybe the glowing stomach is some kind of warning mechanism for when people go too fast? either that or its related to her industrial intestines) and then says this after race mentions “him” (the previous member who died and ren is trying to bring back)
one would assume that he would go on to say “I’m not willing to lose you the way that he died” or something along those lines
therefore, going fast killed ren’s friend
4 Likes
I don’t have time to read this now but seems good
4 Likes
–
Chapter Three
The Kettle Is Set
–
“Admit it.” The fish, shocked by the comparably warm glove, sprang back into action, thrashing about in a desperate attempt to escape the freezing conditions of the ice it had been packed in. “You’re only working this job because you failed college.”
“You asked me that two days ago, remember?” Ren gave an artificial smirk. “No, I chose this job because I like nosy coworkers who slip fish tails down the uniforms of other employees.”
“You’re not still mad about that, are you?” The rather long-faced fellow said, his upper lip barely moving when he spoke. “Kohaku said she was sorry about that, I don’t know why you have to hold onto it.” Without looking, he flipped a cleaver nearly over his shoulder, decapitating the fish on the bamboo cutting board.
“I guess this is a bit of a silly question, but have you ever had a fish tail dropped down the back of your shirt before?” Ren replied, beginning to lose his sociable mask.
“All the time, about five years ago.” His coworker replied, feeling about for the fish head. “I don’t have as much issues with the uniforms either - you get used to wearing fishing overalls when you’re waist-deep fighting against a net that’s about to push its way back out to sea. Never let any of them get away, though.” Finally turning, he grabbed the fish head and lobbed it underhand into the waste cart.
“But Fred, we’re not flooded here.” Ren gestured around him, the various displays faced outwards filled with seafood surrounding the pair on all sides. “We’re not at much risk of soaking out clothes in this environment.”
“It’s about the message being sent, I think.” Fred replied. “It’s like, we just went out and caught the fish, and that’s why you know they’re fresh. Or something.”
That’s Fred’s way, all right. Ren frowned. When he’s absolutely sure about something, he just doesn’t know or can’t be sure, but ask for his opinion and he’ll be as clear as crystal. One hundred percent. No possible room for doubt.
Ren smashed his eyebrows downwards. Focus. Just gotta work on the crabs. It’s not that hard; you’ve been doing this for months now. Don’t take it out on poor Fred just because he’s here.
“You okay kid?” Fred asked, having turned to face Ren during the silence in time to see the tail end of his display. “You’re kinda pale. Well more than normal anyway.”
The flat glare from Ren was almost immediately cut off by the extremely loud entrance of Kohaku. “BOOOOOOM!!” She bellowed, throwing both arms in the air as she crushed her gloves in one hand and her parking pass in the other. “What’s up, wage slaves? I’m finally back from my hard work and ready to get stompin’!” She swung her legs outwards and made big sumo wrestler-style stomps across the floor to emphasize.
“Produces her own caffeine.” Ren raised his eyebrows smugly at Fred, whose comparatively tiny smile was returned in similar fashion. “How was your four hour nap before work?”
“I did NOT have a four hour nap!!” Kohaku roared, punching Ren in the arm as hard as she could - which wasn’t very hard at all. “Why don’t you ask mister drowsy-peepers over there how much he slept before showing up today, huh?”
“Got here as the store opened, same as always.” Fred replied, his perpetually half-closed eyes looking more unamused than tired, although the rest of his unmoving face balanced it out somewhat. “You kids these days need to learn the value of waking up at four in the morning.” He effortlessly pulled the whole train of guts out of the fish he beheaded and slung it in the trash without looking.
“At least we have something we can agree on, Kohaku.” Ren smiled at her. “Some people in the world are still crazier than we are. How’s the government tracking chip going?”
Kohaku’s nostrils flared, but her reply of rage was instantly cut off by a mischievous Fred. “It’s called a mole, Ren. And the reason why it’s on her forehead is because there’s so much room up there to dig around in.”
“It’s called a beauty mark, Ren Fukushi.” Kohaku growled at the barely taller Ren, who leaned back with a smug grin to avoid her snarling teeth. “And today I’m dumping ice down BOTH your shirts. Just you wait!”
“It’s a little hot in here.” Fred calmly replied, his tiny smile as present as any other time when he was truly amused. “Who knows, I might find it refreshing.”
Ren chuckled as Kohaku snarled again, struggling to put on her fishing overalls without sitting down and without tipping over. He turned his attention back to the crab, which sat sleepily flailing its limbs, too drowsy from the cold to do anything else. It was called Heikegani, so named because of the muscular carapace resembling the angry, scowling face of an Oni.
“That reminds me, why is your name Fred?” Kohaku looked at her coworker even as she paused what she was doing to ball up her ponytail under a hairnet. “Aren’t you Japanese?”
“Ren’s name is Ren, and he’s not from around here.” Fred pointed his knife at Ren as he spoke. “Besides, I was born in the middle of a hurricane while at sea, and my mother was so out of it at the time that Fred Jones was the only name she could think of.”
“You keep changing your secret origin story every time it’s brought up!” Kohaku scowled. “How’s anyone supposed to obsessively over-analyze you if you can’t get the details straight?”
“Hey, some people don’t even know their own name.” Fred replied, the emotion in his voice once again failing to move any of his features, no matter how strong it was. “At least I’ve got that going for me.”
Ren looked down at the miserable crab, staring into the hard imaginary features on its backside. There was no life in the artificial eyes.
“…I gotta take a break,” He blurted out, fumbling as he ripped off his gloves and quickly marched out of the seafood department of the supermarket, swiping the hairnet off his scalp and stuffing it in his pocket. “Ren! The floor!” Kohaku shouted, but the warning fell on deaf ears, as Ren left a trail of grime from the tiled floor onto the much more presentable tiling of the rest of the building.
“Dropped out of college. I’m sure of it.” Fred shook his head, looking after Ren as he left. " At least he’s tracking through the building before operating hours. You stay in college, Kohaku, if you want to make a better job than this one."
–
“Pick up, pick up…”
“Hello? What’s wrong? Is Corey okay?”
“No, he- I mean yes, he’s good. Fine. Good and fine.” Tone replied. “Far as I know, anyhow… Uh, my reason for calling was because a call came in, there’s a building on fire two blocks from the school, and the household had to be warned. Really awkward for me to be the one answering the phone with this thing stuck to my face, y’know?”
“Look, I’m sorry, but I don’t have a lot of options.” Ren replied with irritation. “I can’t just whip my phone out in the middle of the day, not while I’m handling fish guts AND working.”
“Yeah, I know…” Tone mourned.
“…Okay fine, head over there. But keep a good distance; if you’re spotted we are in BIG trouble. You got that?”
“Don’t worry boss, I’m much better at subtlety than you are.” Tone grinned, hanging up the call just after. “Finally, a chance to get out of here for once.”
“You taking me along?” Rook inquired, seated on his cushion as always. “I could be useful if we have to fight anybody.”
“Rook, I’m sorry, but I can’t just go driving looking like this.” Tone pointed to his face, even as he grabbed a large leather jacket off the wall. “If you came along and we had to split, we might lose the frame, and I know how much money went into acquiring it. That’s how Ren lost all that weight, remember?”
“Fifteen pounds is relative,” Rook needlessly objected, growing desperate as the opportunity to escape being cooped up all day seemed to slip through his hypothetical fingers.
“When you’re built like a string bean like he is, fifteen pounds is a big difference.” Tone replied, sliding on a beanie and tightening his leather gloves. “Now stay put; I’ll be back in a little while.” With these words, he turned off the interior light, went out the heavy door, and the room fell into silence.
“I’d like to go out.” Rook sighed.
–
“Do you think anyone died?”
“Nah.” Corey replied, trying to act assured and confident around his peers; to be the inspiration of bravery they all desperately needed. “That’s the printing offices of the High Sun Herald; they’ll be alright. Very well financed, good staff. Better fire insurance.”
“How do you know all that?” A little girl inquired, clearly from the adjacent middle school rather than his own peers of junior high students.
“Uhm… My dad used to work there.” He gulped.
“But I thought you were an orphan.” An older boy replied.
“That doesn’t mean I NEVER had parents.” Corey scoffed, internally sweating bullets. “Regardless, I don’t see why we have to watch it slowly burn down in the middle of the street.”
“AAAH!!” Corey flailed, smashing both his hands over his right ear. “SOFTER!!!”
“What?” The boy asked, thoroughly concerned as well as all the other kids. “Are you all right?”
“Huh? Uhh, just practicing for my drama class, hehe, I’ll just go do that over here.” Corey grinned sheepishly, waddling away from the group as they looked sidelong after him with varying levels of concern. Reaching the other side of the street, he glared uabout, looking for the source of the intrusion.
You can’t spot me. I’m good at this.
“Not that good.” He grumbled.
Sorry, I’m used to the old man having hearing issues. Don’t look at me like that; I didn’t cause them.
“We can discuss your definite guilt later.” Corey tightened his jacket, not processing that if he perhaps zipped it up he wouldn’t be so cold. “What was so important that it got you dragged out of bed before five?”
Har har. Ren asked me to check on you to make sure you were okay, after the call came in about the fire. He wanted to make sure you were okay.
“Tell him I could use about triple the fire I’ve got.” Corey shuddered. “It’s freezing out here.”
If you weren’t so small, you’d have more body heat methinks. Hehe.
“YEAH WELL I’M WORKING ON IT OKAY???” Corey bellowed.
“Corey!!” The lead teacher rebuked. “You’re supposed to be with the group! And stop all that shouting! The rescue team has to be listening for people in the building. And zip up your jacket!”
“Take away my right to bear arms as well, why don’tcha.” Corey grumbled under his breath, zipping his jacket up in frustration. “At least I have the fight to look forward to after this.”
–
“And the Count takes the eight count!! This is gonna be close, folks!”
“I thought he couldn’t do this what with the whole ‘touching’ thing.” Race murmured in Ren’s ear. “Doesn’t it hurt him too much to handle that?”
“It’s in his contract that there’s no grabbing or prolonged contact, but he says he can handle rough impacts just fine.” Ren replied, even as the Count of Knock-outs landed a devastating double-minus steel toe - a rather simple kick to the chest. “He’s got a tell for if something gets too rough for him.”
“How was your day?”
Race adjusted to sink even further into her seat. “Fine. Nobody bothered me today. Had to cover that burning building though. Hope Corey’s okay from that.”
“Tone apparently rattled one of his ear drums,” Ren replied, looking down at a particular seat three rows down from him, where Corey sat wearing a copious amount of merch for The Mummy, cheering loudly in between gulps of soft drink. “But I think he’s gotten over it at this point.”
“He’s a good kid.” Race mumbled, barely sounding like she meant it. “I hope he does well.”
“He will.” Ren sighed, watching as The Mummy, his body completely wrapped outside of the luchador mask and leotard he wore, kept the Count of Knock-outs pinned ineffectively for the ten count and rose into his signature staggering walk of victory, causing half the crowd to roar violently in amazement at the prearranged feat. “I know he will.”
–
7 Likes
Me too
2 Likes
You didn’t tell me this was going to be about masks.
I am a mask.
5 Likes
Only the real Message Boards users will get this reference
Only the real bionicle fans will get this reference
Only the real Togav players will get this reference
Only the real completely normal and adequate members of society will get this reference (I don’t get it)
I’m feeling like an absent father figure right now. It’s okay, I’m done buying milk, I’m coming home
I guess it’s time to put on my theorising gear (read: clown makeup) and do the-
Now that might sound bad, I know, but there’s really nothing to worry about. Uh the Hero Factory characters do get a bit quirky at night… but do I blame them?
Based pickle take
If you don’t like pickles in you hamburger, then you don’t know what a real hamburger is
I’m not saying that I’d do the same, buuuuuuuuut-
If I had a nickel for every time the NOTaHFfan self insert in a Ghid book was introduced by being compared to someone significantly taller than him, I’d have two nickels, which isn’t a lot but it’s weird that it happened twice.
Also, the local NOTaHFfan replacement is canonically shorter than the real deal let’s goooo this is huge I have finally managed to achieve something in life
Judging by this name, I’m assuming that we’re currently in a flashback
Hmmmm I might have a sneaking suspicion that this character might be Racie
It’s because he’s scared of women, isn’t it
It’s a small flying something, so I’m immediately going to assume that this isn’t anyone in particular (only the real someone in particular will get this reference)
This is clearly someone who hasn’t touched grass in a long time
I am really curious what kind of suits they are wearing for no particular reason
Also,
@Toan
(I am temporarily returning the habit of pinging people when I signify their appearance in the book [I am completely out of my mind and you cannot stop me])
New theory: Wild is dead (being the “him” that Ren is referring to) and this group was named this way in his honour
I don’t like the way this is worded because it implies that the mask resembles an entire wolf, not just the head. And I do not want to imagine what it looks like
He has a metal bat?! Ari Wohlford moment?!
Very nice
But how do you conceal an entire metal bat inside your sleeve? I know that oversized clothes are my thing, but still, the maths just doesn’t add up (I am feeling nitpicky today)
Is she called Race because she goes fast or does she go fast because she’s called Race?
Is he called Tone because he messes with sound or does he mess with sound because he’s called Tone?
So his name is Corey huh
@Cordax, anyone?
I retract my statement that this character is supposed to be N01, it was an honest mistake. My theorising is a little rusty after three months of milk buying, okay? I am terribly sorry for what I’ve done and I’ll be taking full accountability for my action. Which is why I say that was all Ghid’s fault, he didn’t do any writing for three months, leading me to lose my edge. I did nothing wrong and I am completely innocent and you should feel sorry for me. Buy my merch at NOTaScam.fr
yes I did just do a youtube apology in the middle of my review and no I’m not regretting it one bit
I’m sure that not a single person has made that joke before me, nuh-uh
Ah yes
Hy shoes
My favourite brand
I am very conflicted on this. This is clearly supposed to be Rukah… but why in the world is he build and shaped like Togav Rook?!
@Atobe_Brick post in togav (now he’ll have to look through this entire thing to locate this ping hehe)
Only the two of us what this is a reference to
Reviews for ch 2 and 3 coming tomorrow. I’ve already read them, just need a bit more time.
We are in uncharted territory, fellas
Honestly I’m really liking this story so far. The character dynamic of the main group is great and the writing seems a lot more… lively, I guess? It really seems like you’re having a lot of fun writing this, especially compared to BoT where there were many moments where it felt like you were getting burned out.
This is what a fresh start does to a man. You don’t need to care about unfinished plot threads, wrapping up character arcs, delivering a satisfying conclusion and stuff and can simply have fun writing whatever you want. And this is what it’s all about
Ghid, can we, perhaps, bend the rules and let this man in? He is perfect for this
12 Likes
I can go to the sign-up thread right now. 
5 Likes
You got YOUR Hero in MY Factory!
Good
It’s a lot simpler than that
I cannot confirm or deny Fast Ten Part Two killed this man
Stop speaking a foreign language I can’t understand you
Welcome to the club
Uh, let’s see. First, there’s an introductory greeting from the company that I’m supposed to read. Eh, it’s kind of a legal thing, you know. Um, 'Welcome to Ghiddy Fnafbear's Story: a magical place for Ghids and shut-ins alike, where agony and pain come to life. Fnafbear Entertainment is not responsible for damage to mind or psyche. Upon discovery of damage or if death has occurred, a missing person’s account will be forgotten within ninety days or as soon as theorizings and posts have been thoroughly cleaned and bleached and the story has been finished.' Blah, blah, blah...
If you like pickles in your hamburger, you might be french
the French had better adopt this practice immediately to validate my claim 
Oh so you’re one of those people
resourceful
I didn’t realize being shorter was an accomplishment 
Nope that’s the fourth chapter
Haha what do you mean?
Stop projecting
Aw c’mon Nota I’m not that predictable
Bingo
And good
I cannot confirm or deny allegations that I would have the audacity to kill a user off before the story has even properly started
don’t worry it’ll get worse
Is he called Ghid because he’s Ghid or is he Ghid because he’s called Ghid?
If you’re handing him out
Bingo
See guys, I’m really subtle guys, did you see
I’m sorry I didn’t keep you edgy for three months I should have mailed you extra skrillex and electrical tape
you’re clearly seeing things, um, I definitely didn’t edit it… read it again.
Bingo
@Atobe_Brick post in togav
Just the two of us
We can make it (cringe references to gooberlicious things) if we try
Look at you, immediately weaponizing my lack of laptop destruction against me
I’ll deal with you there. 
3 Likes